CHAMPAIGN - Boylan's Alex Butler and Belvidere's Justin McGady decided they wanted to come out and kick off the Class 2A state wrestling tournament by making a statement Thursday.

The three Hononegah qualifiers made their own statements by going undefeated on the first day of the 3A state tourney.

Overall, the area contingent went 6-1 in the 2A and 3A preliminaries combined.

"It's my third time down here, and I finally got a win," said Hononegah's fifth-ranked 170-pound junior Tyler DeMoss (40-5). "That's a big weight off my shoulders, now I can go for it. Wins are big to start this one off."

The two locals who qualified in 2A agreed, and they came out on Thursday and went after it, eventually resulting in resounding and commanding round-one victories.

Now they just have to make that statement stick all the way through to Saturday's finals.

"This one gives me some more confidence, and makes me feel like they should get out of my way. That's the statement I hope that one made," said McGady (38-8), who flipped his first state-tourney foe late for back points and a 10-2 dominating win at 138. "I'm going to be firing off and getting after it all weekend. I know I have to stay aggressive if I'm going to get this. If I want to hold that bracket up when it's all done, I can't ever let up."

And he didn't on Thursday. McGady rattled off seven unanswered points in the third period to seal the deal. Next up, however, he must face the weight's top seed, Lombard Montini's Vincent Turk (40-6).

Boylan's lone representative, Butler, held the distinction of being his weight's top seed, and it showed in his opener. The Titan junior controlled his 132-pound opening opponent from the start, rolling to a 13-5 decision with a series of single-leg takedowns and let-ups, making it all look easy.

"I practiced hard and felt good all week, and I slept good last night. I was ready for this one," Butler (38-3) said. "The first match of the tournament can sometimes determine the whole tournament for you, so I wanted to get it going the right way.

"I don't know how it will all work out, but I do know that I'll be in attack mode the whole way through."

All three of the state qualifiers for Hononegah burst into the quarterfinals, but DeMoss had to work the most for his. He earned a two-point reversal with three seconds left to lock up a 7-5 win over Niko Rocha-Gomez of Addison Trail.

Fernie Silva's 10-1 overpowering performance at 145 appeared to be a bit easier.

"I wanted to push the pace and do what I do. This is what I've been working for for a long time," the sophomore Silva said. "I'm definitely a little bit nervous, being the youngest guy on this side, but I deserve to be here, and I want to spend the rest of the tournament showing that I belong here.

"I can handle battling with the big boys."

Silva (42-4), ranked third in the state, will now have to get past one of the biggest boys, No. 2-ranked Juwan Edmond (45-1) of Hinsdale Central, for a berth to the semis.

Hononegah's Zach Benkovich (37-7) also cruised into the quarters, earning a 6-2 win during which his confidence "kept going higher and higher as the match went on."

Sage Hecox (37-2) became Harlem's lone hope for a state title when he earned a first-period pin of Wheaton North's Anthony Yanan following teammate Tanner Anthony's first-period pin at the hands of the state's top-ranked 152-pounder Bryce Brill of Mount Carmel.

Anthony will begin his wrestle-back journey at 1:30 p.m. today along with the rest of the Day 1 3A losers, while at the same time Hecox and the rest of those in the winner's brackets kick off the quarterfinals. The 2A matches start at 11 a.m. All of the semifinals will begin at 7 p.m. today, and Saturday's place-matches are set for 1 p.m. while the final round is expected to begin at 5:30 p.m.